Malachi chapter 3 starts from verse 16.
Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.
The Lord paid attention and heard them,
and the book of remembrance was written before him
of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.
They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts.
In the day when I made up my precious possession,
and I will spare them as a man,
and spare his son who served him,
then once more you shall see the distinction
between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
For behold, the day is coming,
burning like an oven,
when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.
The day that is coming shall set them ablaze,
says the Lord of hosts,
so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
But for you who fear my name,
the son of righteousness,
shall rise with healing in his wings.
You shall go out,
leaping like calves from the store,
and you shall tread down the wicked,
for there will be ashes under soles of your feet.
On the day when I act,
says the Lord of hosts,
remember the Lord of my servant Moses,
the statues and rules that I commanded him
at Horeb for all Israel.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes,
and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children
and the hearts of children to their fathers,
lest I come and stride the land
with the decree of utter destruction.
This is the word of the Lord.
Well, good morning everyone.
Question to get you all thinking this morning.
Is judgment negative or positive?
Both.
It always has to be...
Well, yeah, okay, that's both.
All right.
Our society, I think you're right,
our society almost invariably sees judgment as negative.
I think that's why, you know,
the common protest of society these days
is don't judge me.
That assumes that any sort of criticism
or challenge is negative
because it's a restriction of personal freedom,
a restriction of the right to pursue happiness
as people see it.
But imagine this.
Imagine you're a parent
and you're walking down the road
and your child starts to bolt across a busy road
into oncoming traffic.
And you just lean forward
and you yank that child roughly back,
yelling at them,
don't ever do that again,
it's so dangerous.
Your child might well think
that judgment was rather negative.
But from your perspective,
it was actually positive.
It was life-saving.
So yes,
judgment very much depends on the intent
and the context
in which it occurs.
And that's a really important perspective
to bring into Malachi.
The end of Malachi's prophecy,
particularly,
because judgment is dominant.
But it's also the end of the Old Testament
where judgment is dominant.
If you look at chapter 4, verse 6,
that very last phrase,
lest I come and strike the land
with a curse
or with a decree of utter destruction.
Now that seems like somewhat of a rather
negative statement
to end up the whole of the Old Testament,
end up this prophesy of Malachi.
Malachi.
Effectively, this is God's last word
until we hear from the Gospels
when Jesus comes into the world.
Yet simultaneously,
Malachi
measures on the theme of hope.
So if you look at chapter 4, verse 4,
there's another decree
that the Lord urges his people to remember.
And that is,
and it doesn't come out in the English version,
but it's remember the decree
of my servant Moses,
the decrees that I commanded him at Horeb.
Sorry, it should have been
remember the law of my servant Moses,
the decrees that I commanded him at Horeb,
or Sinai,
for all Israel.
And if you go back to that decree,
that was the Ten Commandments.
That's loosely what this refers to.
And the Ten Commandments were that
which were born out of God saying,
I have now entered into a relationship with you.
I will be your God
and you will be my people.
And this is what our relationship
will be framed by.
And this is what it will look like.
This is what the good life
under my love and under my rule
will look like.
So side by side
with judgment and curse
is hope.
Judgment and hope.
So we need to think of judgment and hope
like conjoined twins.
God's judgment promises
both destruction
to those who continue to rebel.
And we'll see a bit more of that
from chapter 3 verse 18.
Or chapter 4 verse 1 rather.
Promises destruction
for those who continue to rebel
and healing, renewal
to those who esteem
and honour his name.
Both happen simultaneously.
One event,
two very different outcomes.
Malachi, therefore,
may be the end of the Old Testament
but certainly not the end
of God's story of salvation.
We find, we get to the end of Malachi,
that there has to be a sequel.
There's more of the story to come
where judgment and hope
will move to a final climax
as the Lord judges sin
and heals his people
and renews them to worship him
as he deserves.
So the question I want to take
with us into the text now
is why does hope
need to be there so buoyantly,
so much in your face
as we finish up with this
threat of curse?
Well, the answer is because
God's healing,
God's healing intervention
is so desperately needed.
So right through,
over four weeks now,
we've seen what's happening here
in Malachi.
The Lord, through Malachi,
is forcing his people
to recognise
the awful state
of their relationship.
It was a relationship
in name only, really,
as far as the people
were concerned.
And the Lord's forcing them
to see how empty
and shallow it is.
Why?
That they might recognise
once again
the desperate need
for God's radical intervention
to save the relationship.
We've seen over three weeks
that God's covenant faithfulness
was beyond question.
We started
with covenant faithfulness.
I have loved you,
said the Lord.
He had loved them uniquely.
He had loved them exclusively.
He had loved them generously
over generations.
Last week we saw
in chapter 3, verse 6,
the sheer fact
that the people of Israel
still existed
was all the evidence
you needed
of God's love.
Equally true,
but in sharp contrast,
their covenant unfaithfulness
was beyond question.
We've seen that again
over three weeks.
Essentially the Lord said,
you have spurned my love
at every point.
Chapter 3, verse 7,
we looked at it last week.
From the days of your fathers
you have turned aside
from my statutes
and have not kept them.
But,
they've thrown God's love
back in his face.
They'd chased other lovers
to follow the metaphor
through here.
They'd chased a good life
apart from God.
Still booked
taking the relationship,
but deep down
their hearts were devoid
of any respect
for the Lord.
And certainly devoid
of any affection for Him.
And then again,
we bounce again,
God's faithfulness
was beyond question
in response to that.
God says,
being true to His character,
you will experience
my righteous character
in judgment.
You see,
God takes Himself
very seriously.
He will not allow
Himself to be treated
with contempt.
Back in chapter 1,
verse 14,
we saw that verse,
He says,
For I am a great king,
says the Lord of hosts,
and my name
will be feared
among the nations.
Chapter 1,
verse 11,
For from the rising
of the sun
to its setting,
my name will be great
among the nations.
And in every place,
incense will be offered
to my name,
and a pure offering.
God takes Himself
very seriously.
And if people
don't respond
as they ought
to God's love,
mercy,
and grace,
then God says,
you'll experience
my covenant faithfulness
in a different hue.
You'll experience it
in judgment.
Both are covenant faithfulness.
Both reveal
my covenant character.
And if you experience
my judgment,
then either that will be
in partial judgment,
and the partial judgment
we saw last week
in chapter 3
was disciplinary
and correctional
or restorative.
Or,
says the Lord,
we'll see in chapter 4,
verse 1,
you'll face
my judgment
ultimately
and final.
that is punitive
and condemnatory.
So,
where are God's people
in all of this?
Well,
if you look at chapter 3,
verse 18,
God's people
are found out.
They knew
that God's judgment
would bring division.
But they'd come
to believe
that that division
would be along
racial lines.
On the one side
would be Israel
and all the other
nations on the other side
and all the other
nations would get it
from God,
get it in the neck
from God
and they would be
preserved.
But the Lord
doesn't say it like that.
The Lord says,
yes,
you're right
and there will be
division.
And in a sense,
you are right.
I will look at
my nation,
Israel,
different from
the other nations.
But,
ultimately,
the divide
in my judgment
will be between
those who fear me
and those
who don't.
Those who serve me
and those who don't.
Those who esteem me
and those who don't.
We saw last week
in the first part
of this,
looking at judgment
and God's intervention,
that God's judgment
on his people
would be severe
but partial.
We had those
metaphors
like the refiner's fire.
And that's serious heat
to melt down
ore
and float off
all the dross.
And the whole idea
of that is that
in the old days
the refiner knew
it was perfect
when he could see
his own reflection
on the top
of the metal.
That's a really
lovely metaphor.
That was serious heat
the Lord's going to
bring to his people.
But it was designed
to discipline,
to bring them back,
to purify,
to bring them back
to himself
so they might
worship him
in spirit and truth.
And in chapter 2
verse 2
we saw two weeks ago
the Lord says,
outs his people
by saying look
you've gone through
all the motions
of serving me
but here's the real
problem for you guys.
You've not set
your hearts
to honour me.
The heart of the problem
was the problem
of the heart.
And God knew
that his children,
his people
were unable
and unwilling
to obey him,
to respond
properly to his love.
And since that's true,
God's people
needed
the real hope
of God's intervention,
of God's healing
if God's judgment
in a final form
was not to settle
upon them.
Chapter 4 verse 1
the day is coming
burning like an oven
when all the arrogant
all evildoers
will be stubble.
The day that is coming
shall set them ablaze.
There's a wildfire coming.
God's people
need serious
intervention,
serious help,
serious healing.
the sort that only
the Lord could deliver
to reformat them
from the inside out.
If the problem
was a heart,
then they needed
new hearts.
And all the prophets
before him
had spoken of
this same problem
and offered
the same hope
that the Lord
would intervene
and renew hearts
so his people
could worship him
as he
expected them to
and wanted them to.
Amen.
So God's
intervention
is seriously needed
but secondly
God's healing intervention
would be just
what is needed.
Surprise, surprise.
It's tailor made
to what is needed
in the situation.
Chapter 4 verse 1
again.
God's intervention
is pictured
as one day.
But the metaphor
gets mixed up a little
because there's two
types of fire in here.
There's a fire
like a wildfire
that just consumes
everything before it
and then there's
the fire
that's associated
with the sun,
the rays of the sun.
One's consuming,
one's restorative.
Both are controlled.
So when we think
of a wildfire
we often think
of something
being out of control.
Well that's not
the picture here.
A wildfire
is the heat
of the thing.
It burns,
if you remember
last year
the wildfire
swept through Tasmania.
There were some
places where
the soil was burned
down six inches deep
all the organic
material was burned
out at a depth
of six inches.
There was never
going to be anything
to recover from that.
That's the sort
of serious fire,
the consuming fire
that's been spoken here.
But it's not out of control.
It is precisely
as the Lord
means it to be.
It will deliver
the precise
and distinct outcomes
that the Lord
means it to deliver
for God's people,
for those who fear
his name.
Look at chapter 3
verse 16.
Then those
who feared the Lord
spoke with one another.
The Lord
paid attention
and heard them.
And a book
of remembrance
was written before him
of those who feared
the Lord
and esteemed
his name.
They shall be mine,
says the Lord
of hosts,
in the day
when I make up
my treasured possession
and I will
spare them
as a man
spares his son
who serves him.
We have a group
of people here
in amongst
the vast
part of God's people
who have got
no affection,
no esteem for God.
We've got a group
in here
who
still do fear
the Lord
and who are
talking with one another,
presumably,
to encourage
one another,
to keep on
fearing the Lord,
not to go
with the flow,
to keep on
esteeming him
or valuing him
as a first order.
People who,
chapter 3
verse 18,
who desired
to serve God
because he was
worth serving.
For this group
of people,
God's judgment
would result
in perfect righteousness.
It would be
the healing
they long for.
In chapter 4
then,
we get the metaphor
continued,
the son of righteousness
shall rise with
healings in its wings.
The picture here
is of the sun
rising.
And what happens
when the sun rises?
Well, firstly,
it brings to an end
the dark night.
So the picture here
is the son of righteousness.
God's intervention
is going to bring
to an end
that long,
dark night
of sin
and misery
and disobedience
and struggle.
That very stuff
that marked
the life of God's people.
And as the sun
comes up,
it's a fresh day,
a fresh start
in righteousness.
righteousness.
Now,
I suspect
that's a very easy
picture for us
to engage with.
At least I find it
really easy
to engage with.
Having been out
camping under the stars
many a night
when it's been
seriously cold,
perhaps even wet
and there's nothing
nicer
than the sun
coming up
over the horizon
and immediately
you just feel
its warmth
and suddenly
you just feel
lifted,
don't you?
It's a fresh start.
It's therapeutic.
That's the picture here.
It's a moment
to be longed for.
It's a moment
to be savoured.
As even pictured here,
it's probably
something only people
in the northern hemisphere
would understand
this idea of
you shall go out
leaping like cows
from the stall.
It was a big thing
for us.
Our animals
were always
penned up
for six months
of the year
over an hour old.
It used to be
no end of fun
for us,
probably a bit
pathetic,
that was fun for us,
but come time of spring
when you let them out
and they absolutely
went psycho
for perhaps
a couple of hours.
They would just
race around
and kick their heels
up and snort
and get on
in among the fresh grass
enjoying the spring day.
That's the picture here.
It would be
such a time
of excitement
and joy
and no wonder
because it would
be the time
of healing.
It would be
the time
of finally
getting what
they've longed for,
the ability
to properly
worship God.
The time
they would be
what they knew
God had created
them to be
as they worshipped
God.
The time
when they knew
they were actually
being what God
wanted them to be
all along.
People of righteousness,
faithful and delightful
to the Lord.
So,
God's judgment
would just be
what was needed,
exactly what was needed
for God's people.
And it would just be
exactly what's needed
for God's glory
because the two things
exist side by side
as we come to the end
of Malachi's prophecy.
sometimes we tend
to be a little bit
focused on our own
sort of situation,
the people situation.
But God's glory
is working here
as much as anything else.
God's intervention
would showcase
that what he said
earlier in the prophecy
was true,
that he was a great king.
It would demonstrate
why his name is great
across the world.
His holiness
would be known
by his consuming judgment.
those who refused
to bow before the Lord
would experience
this consuming judgment.
It would be a wildfire.
It would just consume them.
Nothing would survive.
So God's glory
would be established
as the wicked
get precisely
what they deserve.
And 3.18
Finally,
the rubbish talk
that we talked about
last week,
the rubbish talk
of many of his people.
Remember they were
complaining in their hearts
that, well, look,
what's the point
of serving the Lord?
There's actually no difference
between the righteous
and the wicked.
What's the point?
And suddenly the Lord
says, well,
you will then see
that your rubbish talk
was rubbish
and you will see
there's a vast difference
between the righteous
and the wicked.
And both
will ascribe
their situations
to my character
and my covenant faithfulness.
And so as it's been
right through,
the Lord's really
seen his people,
well,
my greatness
will be seen
in my consuming judgment,
but my greatness
will be seen also
in my grace
and love
and mercy to you
and my healing of you.
And even more so
if you'll return to me.
If only you'd trust me,
says the Lord.
You'll prove that
beyond measure.
You see,
in among all of that,
the Lord knew
only too well
the inability
of his people
to do that
on their own steam.
We're back in
3, 16, 17 again.
The Lord knew.
He knew right
from day one
that his people
didn't have the ability
to serve him
and obey him
as they ought.
But here's the rubb
in verse 16 and 17.
The Lord was delighted
when he saw his people
trying to do that,
trying to esteem him,
trying to fear him.
That's what got
God's attention.
Remember last week
the Lord said
he was just tired.
He was sick and tired
of listening to the ear bashing
they were giving him,
all the rubbish talk.
But what gets his attention?
Well,
when his people
are trying
to honour him,
even though they know
they fail
in doing that.
And what's his response
to that?
Well,
this book of remembrance,
I think again
it's most likely
a picture.
It's a commitment
of the Lord
to actually
write down
as it were
and tuck it
into his brain
if we can think
of the Lord like that.
All these people
and he says,
wow,
this is exactly
what I'm about
in my grace
and mercy
and love.
And he commits himself
to giving
these people
secure,
everlasting
relationship.
He commits himself
to being close
to them
in an intimate
relationship.
They shall be mine.
Now,
it's important
to remember here
this isn't a commitment.
this book
isn't listing
all the good people
as if somehow
or other
they deserve
God's blessing.
This book of remembrance
is about sinful people
whom,
as it says
in verse 17,
he would spare.
Very powerful word
that one.
He's not rewarding
them for their goodness,
he's sparing them
as a man
spares a son
who serves him.
In contrast
to those
who would be
consumed by his fire
getting exactly
what they deserved,
this group of people
because they sought
to fear the Lord
would get precisely
what they didn't deserve
and could never
really earn.
They would
and it's all theirs
because of the Lord's
grace and mercy
and love
and commitment
to them.
But there's something
else happening
in verse 17
because the language
there takes you
back to Exodus
chapter 19
verse 5.
Remember the Lord,
the Exodus,
the Lord brought
his people out of Egypt
and he brought
them to himself
in Mount Sinai
under Moses.
In chapter 19
verse 5
the Lord there says
I will be,
I brought you
in eagle's wings
and it's very interesting
there's another
bird reference here
in chapter 4
verse 4.
I just don't have time
I spent a lot of time
getting lost in that
this week
but I don't have time
to follow it through
now you can think
about it yourself.
The Lord said
I brought you
to myself
on eagle's wings
I will be your God
and you will be
my treasured
possession forever.
So what's happening
here
in chapter 3
verse 16
17
the end of
Malachi's prophecy
is simply
an affirmation
that the Lord
is still doing
what he had
promised to do
all the way back
at Exodus.
He promised
to rescue his people
and he actually
did rescue his people.
He brought them
to himself
he made himself
their God
and called them
his treasured
possession
and that's exactly
what we're hearing
here again.
Once again
we're seeing
God's glory
because we're seeing
God's covenant
faithfulness.
And look at
chapter 4
verse 4
5 and 6
now.
As we
end up
the Old Testament
end up
prophecy of Malachi
what will allow
God's people
to live
confidently
in God's
future promises
or God's
hope
God's promises
of healing
and intervention
in the future.
Healing
and remuel.
Well
I think
it's this
confidence
in God's promises
going forward
is based
on
God's
character
and actions
in the past
and specifically
what these
two guys
here
Moses
and Elijah
represent.
To live
confidently
in God's
future promises
is
verse 4
to remember.
Look back
don't be old
fashioned
that's not what
he's saying
but be people
of the past
truly in the past
in terms of
what God
has done.
Remember
that God
does what
he says
he will do.
And so
God's last
words to his
people here
before a
sound of
some 400
more years
is remember
Moses
and remember
Elijah.
So
remember
Moses.
What do
they remember?
Well
we've just
spoken about
it in
3,
16,
17.
Remember
that the
Lord
initiated
relationship
with you
in spite
of your
sin and
failure.
The
Lord
brought you
to himself
simply because
it was an
act of
God's
grace and
mercy.
Not because
you deserved
it.
The
Lord
committed
himself
to you
and made
you his
treasured
possession
because that
was God's
covenant
faithfulness
working out.
Remember
that God
gave you
his
love to
shape the
relationship
and said
this is how
you're going
to enjoy
the good
life with
me.
And then
remember
also that
the Lord
knew even
as he gave
you his
commandments
that you
wouldn't be
able to
obey them.
And so
what did
the Lord
do?
He provided
a means of
dealing with
your sins
so that the
relationship
might continue
even though
your sin
is just
all over
it.
And
remember
Elijah.
Elijah
perhaps not
so well
known to
some of
us but
Elijah he
was the
great prophet
that God's
people look
back to.
As I said
last week he
was the
sort of
pin-up
prophet as
it were.
he was
the pinnacle
of prophecy
for many
of God's
people.
He was
the one
who challenged
God's
people to
address God's
character and
God's promises
when it
looked like
God's cause
had been
lost in
the face
of evil
attack.
Elijah was
a man who
took on
the enemies
of God
as it
were
and defeated
them.
But he
also was a
man who
confronted
God's
people with
their sin.
He urged
them to
repent and
turn back
to the
Lord for
renewed
blessing.
And
remember
that I'm
sending you
a new
Elijah.
One who
will take
up and
complete his
original
mission.
Some
commentators
think that
because Elijah
didn't die,
he was
taken up
to the
heavens in
a chariot,
that that
sort of
left God's
people thinking
that there
would be
another day
when Elijah
would return
to complete
his mission.
Whatever you
make of
that,
the Lord
through his
word here
is saying
I will
send a
new
Elijah.
One who
will take
up and
complete that
original
mission,
however you
see it
being connected
into that.
He will
turn
God's
people back
to serve
the Lord.
He will
confound
God's
enemies.
And so
my friends,
as we wrap
up this
Malachi
series,
the Old
Testament,
the whisper
of Jesus
has suddenly
become a
roar.
God's
promised
healing
intervention
comes
reality
with the
birth of
Jesus
more than
400 years
later.
Quite
literally,
we step
from Malachi
into
Matthew.
And in a
sense,
that's how
it happened
in history.
God's
next word
was with
the arrival
of Jesus
more than
400 years
later.
And what
we find
when we
move into
Matthew's
gospel,
is that even
then,
there were
some among
God's
people who
had
remembered
and who
continued to
fear and
esteem the
name of the
Lord.
Lord,
there were
a group,
a couple
we'll meet
next week
as we
start our
next series
leading up
to Christmas,
Christmas songs.
Two people
will meet,
Anna and
Simeon.
And they
were part
of a group
that's
described in
Matthew's
gospel as
those who
are waiting
for the
consolation,
and that
word healing
is there,
the consolation
of Israel.
They
continued to
fear the
Lord.
They
continued to
meet and
encourage each
other to
fear the
Lord.
They
continued to
esteem the
Lord.
Jump
forward a
few more
years,
and I
want to
take you
into Matthew
17,
as we
finish up
this series
and finish
up this
morning.
Matthew
17 is
that
episode,
that incident
we call
the
Transfiguration.
In the
Transfiguration,
we have
the festival
for the
Old Testament,
the Feast
of Booths,
and what
we have
initially is
Moses and
Elijah
appearing.
That's the
next time
these two
characters
appear together.
Moses and
Elijah appear
and they're
chatting with
Jesus.
The disciples
have no idea
what to do
with all that.
So they
initially start
to treat them
as equals.
So let's
make a booth
for each of
the three of
you.
And then
things take
a very quick
turn.
Moses and
Elijah fade
into the
background and
disappear.
and Jesus
is transformed
with a
supernatural
voice saying
this is my
beloved son.
What's
happening there?
Well,
firstly it's
an intersection
of Jesus,
Moses and
Elijah.
But secondly,
it's Moses
and Elijah
recognising
that they
will step
into the
background
now and
as it
were disappear
and the
spotlight will
quite literally
come onto
Jesus.
In other
words,
Moses and
Elijah both
recognised that
Jesus is the
one who would
bring that
healing intervention
which Moses
and Elijah
represented
but were
unable to
deliver.
so it's a
connection
but a
connection
deliberately
puts the
focus onto
Jesus.
Jesus would
be the
new Moses
and we
see that
through the
early chapters
of the
gospel.
He would
be the
new Moses
leading God's
people in
a new
exodus.
That is,
once again
rescuing
God's people
from bondage
to sin
and death,
bringing
them to
the Lord
as his
treasured
possession,
renewing
them and
creating a
new servant
nation,
a global
servant
nation which
we call
the church.
Jesus would
be the
new Moses
and Jesus
like Moses
would remind
God's people
that God
demanded
perfect
obedience to
his law.
But as
the new
superior
Moses,
he would
actually,
keep God's
law for
God's
people.
Because they
couldn't
keep it
for themselves.
They couldn't
have that
standard
perfection
that the
Lord demanded
of his
people.
So,
Jesus keeps
the law
for us.
He gives
us his
righteousness
so that we
might have
the necessary
righteousness
promised
so that we
can have
ongoing
relationship
with the
Lord.
And this
might be
more
controversial,
but Jesus
in a sense
would be
the new
Elijah.
Yes,
Elijah was
the first
and foremost
John the
Baptist,
but in a
sense,
Jesus is
an Elijah
figure as
well.
Except that
he completes
what Elijah
was unable
to do.
He calls
his people
back to
the Lord
to see
their sin.
But this
time,
Jesus
actually
deals
with
their
sin,
changes
them
from the
inside out,
makes new
in our
hearts and
minds by
the finding
presence of
God's
Spirit,
gives us
a fresh
start in
the good
life of
God.
Friends,
all God's
purposes and
promises of
healing and
restoration are
fulfilled in
Jesus.
that's the
sum of it.
In him,
we are the
righteousness of
God.
And we
need to
understand that
as Christians
today, we
have everything
that those
who feared the
Lord in
Malachi's time
could only look
forward to and
long for.
All God's
promises are
yes and
amen in
Christ,
and therefore
in us as
Christians.
So I just
finish up with
this challenge.
The challenge
is really the
same as it's
been every
day and
always been
for God's
people.
Will we
live in
the righteousness
as now
ours in
Christ,
and thereby
show the
Lord to
be worthy,
to be
served and
honored?
God?
It's a very
personal question.
Use the
language of
chapter 2,
verse 2.
Will we
set our
hearts and
minds to
honor God?
So the
reality is for
us as
Christians, we
can still be
Christians and
go through the
Christian life as
a box-ticking
exercise.
God's
life.
That is a
relationship with
God that's a
mile wide and a
centimeter deep.
We have so much
privilege, so much
more privilege than
the people of
Malachi's day,
because we have the
reality of the
healing and the
reality of God's
enabling and
empowering spirit
with us.
So, in
keeping with
what the
Lord expected
from his
people and
Malachi's day,
since we have
so much
privilege,
since we've
experienced so
much mercy and
grace and
love, then
our delight
ought to reflect
that.
Our delight in
the Lord ought to
reflect that.
And how do we
see delight in
the Lord?
Well, it's not
just words.
Delight in the
Lord will
involve what we
say, but
primarily it will
overflow.
It will be the
overflow of what's
in our heart,
overflowing into
our actions,
actions of
obedience,
actions of
praise,
actions of
struggle,
to be faithful,
to show that we
esteem the Lord,
that is value more
than anything else
in this life.
Will you set your
heart to honour
the Lord?
pray with me
please.
Lord, forgive us
for being utterly
self-centred in
thinking about our
salvation so
easily and so
regularly, Lord,
we think about it
in terms of a
personal benefit.
And Lord, that's
all true.
We have been
forgiven.
we know that we'll
no longer be held
accountable for our
sins and sins,
though many of
they continue to
be.
We know, Lord,
that we are now
joined to you,
united with you,
and will one day be
home with you.
And Lord, we find
that so amazing,
and yet so often we
stop there,
halfway through the
story.
And as we
discovered in our
Colossians series,
we don't ask the
question, what have
we been saved
for.
So Lord, I pray
that we might be
those who truly
respond to your
love and grace and
mercy.
We pray, Lord, that
we might be those
who truly delight in
you, that we
esteem you, and
that those around us,
Lord, might see us
esteeming you, that
is valuing you above
all else in our
lives.
Lord, keep us from
being mediocre or
cold in our worship
of you.
keep us, Lord, from
being segmented in
our worship of you,
thinking that simply
turning up on a
Sunday morning is
worship, and the
rest of the week is
ours to live as we
please.
Lord, help us to
delight in you.
Help us to make
every day a day of
worship and praise
and thankfulness.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.